


The Far Shores of the Day

by WonderWafles



Category: Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
Genre: Gen, The Dark Years, The Women of the Hand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-13 13:50:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10515033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderWafles/pseuds/WonderWafles
Summary: A young witch looks forward.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bunn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunn/gifts).



> Some meta for Earthsea about the Dark Years - I'll admit, not my area of expertise, but I hope it pleases. I like the idea that some of those who founded the School at Roke hoped that it would bring an end to the Dark Years, and very boldly proclaimed it as such. Either way, the idea of mages worked on warlords' ships for profit makes me sad, so of course I must theorize about it.
> 
> I hope you like it!

The Dark Years were a cursed time, some say.

Myself, I don’t believe there was more to it than there needed to be – if there is one thing men are good at, it is falling apart. Nobody needs anything else accounted to it than that.

I should know. Hah!

Most claim the Dark Years began after the death of Maharion. More are less clear on why or how the Dark Years continue. Some, then, ask if we are ever to enter a new age.

Enough about that, however – this account is to look back on a troubled time, and realize how blessed we are to stand at the beginning of something much greater.

My name is Ademana. I am a Witch of the Hand. And we are doing something great. It behooves those who are great to look back upon what came before.

Those who would rule in Maharion’s stead began in the Kargish lands, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say they began with the Kargs, naturally. If there was a momentum to be captured there, the primitivism of the Kargs arrested it.

More powerful people – mages or otherwise – began to crop up all around the Outer Lands, proclaiming themselves to be the kings and queens of petty little fiefdoms. They exacted tithes on travelers, made laws (made to be broken in times like these, some might say).

Still, for a time, it worked. Such as can be said of anything in those days. There was a brief kind of stability – but I caution you, dear reader, not to mistake stability with peace. 

In those days, magic was prized or loathed, depending on who you talked to. Some considered it a great gift, a way to enforce the power of the lordling the mage served. Others were thought of as a great danger. Stories abound of young mages being hunted down and slaughtered for the possibility of rebellion.

It was not unusual to find a magic-user bent to the will of a warlord, sent to quell an uprising or inspire faith in the strength of one’s power. Many were sent upon ships to safeguard the cargo from enterprising pirates or enemy warlords, and found their end there – as did their enemies.

Barbaric, truly. A mage should not use her voice to call the names of warlike things. That is one thing we hope to change here.

I should know. I myself was one such vassal.

Before you choose to judge me too harshly, I must protest that I was forced. The Dark Years are called such for a reason. I will not speak more of myself, but I will tell a story.

A ship sent from the Southern Reaches would begin its trek with calming words to the sea, a wish for a safe passage. A Weather Worker was most useful here, and for warlords who could afford it, would be paired with a Spell Wright very commonly. These were the most commonly used mages, but by no means the only ones.

While the greatest fear came from the possibility of Kargish raiders, passing by a coastal town anywhere was dangerous. One never knows where a trap has been laid. Very often, ships would attempt to outfit themselves with rations enough to last the journey or, more commonly, go hungry. 

The danger did not pass when our ship reached its destination – let’s say, Roke. Now, the lands around the Inmost Sea were safer than the Outer Lands, at least for sea-faring vessels. Less place to hide, you see. The mage in question, if they performed adequately and have no potential replacement nearby, is rewarded.

That is one story. There are many others. They do not end as happily.

That is why I am here, with the others, working towards this goal. A great School of magic, to establish order and peace amongst first the mages, and then the world!

If Maherion spoke true, the next King or Queen of Havnor will be a mage. How else to ensure this comes to pass, than to educate the next generation of mages, and generations come after? The Dark Years are coming to an end, very soon. Of this, I am sure.

Still, there are those who would strain against this purpose. They are small-minded, petty things that wish to cling to their power at all means possible. Already, there is talk that only men may learn the Speech, that only men can practice magic. Ridiculous! Our school will never fall prey to such fears and prejudices. 

I worry, though. I can’t help it. To worry is to be Ademana, I fear! 

If we do not succeed, or worse, if our vision becomes corrupted… well. Havnor may be king-less for another thousand years. I do not know if Éa could bear that.

So, while I am confident, I write this letter. I hope that there will be no need for it to be found. But if all is lost, who is to say if there will be anyone left to speak of these days? To remember Maherion, and better times? To put in the hands of a young mage their destiny? What if Warthort comes again, and finishes us off?

One more story, before I go.

To be a good mage, one must act in accordance with the balance. So we do here. Perhaps, one day, there will be a man of great ambition, who forces an ignorant mage to do great things, things that disrupt the world itself. How are they stopped? 

Or worse. Perhaps, the mage themselves will be the warlord, the broken piece of kingship that languishes over this land like a pall. How are they stopped?

Perhaps they cannot be, not without the dragons, if the stories are true. I hope, though, our great project will stop such a thing before it begins.

I tell you this to impress upon you the importance of this project. After I finish writing this, I will tell this letter that it is part of the earth itself in the Speech, and so it will be. I will trust that you, whoever you are, will remember this place, and what we sought to do, and do what you can.

Good luck!


End file.
